Convicted of Murder

"This is the most
horrific and terrible murder I have had the misfortune to come across
in my 23 years as a police officer - whoever has done this must have a propensity to do it
again".

"The nature of this
offence makes it almost unique."

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Stevens -
11th July 1996.

At about 4 pm on Tuesday 9th July 1996,
after a swimming gala at a local school, Dr Lin Russell, then
aged 45, and her two daughters Megan, aged 6, and Josie, aged 9, set off to walk home with their family dog. The walk
should have taken about 45 minutes. At about 4.25 pm, as they were walking along Cherry
Garden Lane, Chillenden, Kent, a quiet unmade track, they were attacked. Their attacker
tied them up with torn towels and shoe laces, blindfolded them, and beat them over their
heads with a hammer. Dr Lin Russell and Megan died, but although seriously injured, Josie
survived.

Lin, Megan and Josie Russell.

The
Prosecution.

"The evidence of the
main prosecution witness Damien Daley should not be dismissed
just because he is a self- confessed liar." - Mr Justice Poole.

Michael Stone
was convicted of murder before two juries, but can a person ever receive a fair trial and
be safely convicted on the strength of a confession which merely repeats facts that are in
the public domain?

He was arrested on 17th July 1997 just over
a year following the crime as a result of a tip-off from his psychiatrist who said the
police e-fit looked familiar. Stone denied any knowledge of the crime and was remanded in
custody while an ID parade was arranged. On 23rd September 1997, following his request to
the prison Governor to be moved to the segregation unit to 'escape from prisoners who were
making up stories about his involvement in the crime', he was placed in a cell next to a
heroin addict named Damien Daley, who later admitted in court
to being an accomplished liar "in
orderto get by in
life."

In the evening Michael
Stone (also a drug addict) allegedly confessed his guilt to Damien
Daley by speaking through a gap between a heating pipe and their cell wall, which
was reported to the police three days later, on the evening of 26th September.

The Confession- 'spoken' by Michael Stone on 23rd September
1997"I tied them up
with wet towels while their dog barked loudly. One of them
tried to run away."

Damien Daley The prisoner who reported Stone's 'confession' to the police.

The jury agreed that it would have been "like winning the lottery"for Damien Daley to have discovered the details of the crime "which only the murderer could have
known" in the time available
to him while inside Canterbury Prison; and accordingly Stone was found guilty.

The jury heard that Daley had read some of
the details in The Daily Mirror published on the day of the confession, but it was not
told about when or where the remaining details had appeared - only that "they were either in the public domain, or
capable of being inferred from material in the public domain."

This clever admission by Mr Nigel Sweeney QC for the Crown was accepted by Mr William Clegg QC for
the defence on the basis that it was made "in the context of there having been, prior to 23rd
September 1997, publication of the Russell girls having attended a swimming gala on the
day of the attack and that the defendant had tied the victims with strips of towel and it
not having been possible to identify all media coverage prior to 23rd September
1997."

The two barristers neglected to inform the
jury that other details of the crime had appeared in the national press on
the day of the confession (and possibly over the three days before Daley eventually
reported the 'confession' on the evening of the 26th). The jury was also informed that
other newspapers apart from the Daily Mirror were available to prisoners in the cell block
- but they were not disclosed.

During their retirement the jury sent the
judge a note, specifically asking: "how
much of the alleged confession is agreed to be in the pubic domain or deducible therefrom.
eg. 'tries to run away', 'dog present' etc.?" They never received an answer to their question.

The jurors were told they had to be sure Stone had
confessed before they could convict, so they visited Canterbury prison and took turns
to lie on a mattress in Daley's cell while extracts from a Harry Potter novel were read
out from Stone's cell. The jurors could hear every word spoken through the hole which
Daley had faithfully described, but they could not have suspected while cupping their ears
to the wall that even if Stone had shouted out his confession from the rooftop, or had
admitted his 'guilt' to the prison governor, his account of the crime would have been
equally worthless.

The Daily Mirror - published
on 23rd September 1997 The family were tied up and battered to death
with a hammer.

The Daily Mail - published on
23rd September 1997Josie was tied up with strips from one of the towels
the girls had been carrying home from a swimming lesson. Mrs Russell and Megan and their family dogwere all killed.

The Times - published on 23rd September 1997 Mrs Russell urged Josie to run away, but the
man caught her

Michael Stone
said he was "fitted up by other prisoners", but experienced police officers and
legal counsel (who should have known better) must accept responsibility for the
consequences of turning a blind eye to newspaper articles published on the day of the
alleged confession and for not showing those newspapers to the jury in two trials.

Ms Anne Rafferty QC (nowMrs
Justice Rafferty) told the jury that Mark Jennings, a convicted murderer, felt moved to testify against Stone because "his conscience had troubled him." It was "not because of a £5,000
reward" promised him by the Sun newspaper, with a
further £10,000 to be paid if Stone was convicted.The learned QC added that "Stone was
in the mood for killing. He is a tourniquet-using, E-fit resembling man with local
knowledge of the area."

Mr Nigel Sweeney QC (nowMr Justice
Sweeney) told the Court of Appeal that Damien Daley -
the 'hard man' of Canterbury Prison -"had been so upset by the horrific details he heard in the confession
that he needed medical help" and
was prescribed sleeping pills by a psychiatric nurse for a week after hearing Stone
confess.

It is not known what
effect this submission had on their Lordships' judgement and whether they had to adjourn
to regain their composure, but the consequences of naively accepting the word of prisoners
while withholding evidence to gain a conviction meant that the search for the murderer
ceased and other innocent victims would pay the price for the miscarriage of justice.

Nobody in authority
considered it remarkable that if Michael
Stone's confession was genuine, it
would indeed have been like winning the lottery, since it contained all six
details of the crime which had ever been published - and no other details.

Barry Thompson was one of the early prisoners who claimed Stone
had confessed. He retracted his evidence post-trial and said: "None of what I said was true. They've put a man away for life for nothing, while the man who did it
is still at large."

Levi Bellfield

Hammer murderer Age: 40 yrs."The man had a
short, straight fringe."

Levi Bellfield was convicted in February 2008 of a number of
murderous attacks on young women, whom he would approach at random in a car before
attacking them with a hammer. His conviction throws a new light on the Chillenden Murders
case and descriptions of the possible suspect.

Several witnesses saw a "beige/butterscotch Ford Escort-style
family saloon" in the vicinity.
Josie Russell said the murderer got out of his car and assaulted her when she tried
to run away. He was "clean-shaven
with yellow hair,about 25 yrs old, and a tall man, like my father" (6'). She used her thumb and finger to draw up her hair and said "his hair was kind of spikey". She also stated that his build was "similar" to
the interviewing detective (weight: 20 stones).

E-fit of the Chillenden murderer compared with
Levi Bellfield in June 1996 aged 28yrs old (and at 33 yrs and 39 yrs old).
Notice the "chubby cheeks" and "spikey, fashionable, gelled, flicked up,
cropped hair" described by witnesses.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

Levi Bellfield is 6' 1" tall and would have been 28yrs
old at the time of the crime. He bears a strong resemblance as he then looked to
various witness descriptions of the main suspect. (Bellfield photos and witness descriptions).

It is yet to be
established whether Bellfield had adopted his 'blonde' look in July 1996, but family
sources have confirmed that he used to bleach his hair regularly. His facial
characteristics compared to the police E-fit merits further investigation regardless of
his hair colour in the summer of 1996. The police said
when issuing the e-fit: "make no
mistake, this could be the murderer."

If JosieRussell was right about the murderer's build and height-
and she would know because she was in direct physical contact with him - this could
explain why she was unable to pick out Michael Stone in an identity parade: she was
looking for a much heavier and taller man - "like my father."

Michael Stone was then 36yrs old and is 5' 7" tall. He was noticeablyolder, shorter and lighter than either
Josie's
father or Bellfield. His hair was receding and mid-brown and he does not have the telling
features of "podgy cheeks", whereas Bellfield does.

A single fingerprint
impressed in blood was found on Josie Russell's green lunchbox and there was a suggestion
that the perpetrator may have rummaged through the victims' belongings. That fingerprint
did not belong to Stone, but the prosecution implied that it "could have been
made" by Lin Russell, since she had a low loop count pattern on her right middle
finger.

Anne Rafferty QC said when deciding to prosecute Michael Stone that "he wasnot forensically
linked to the murder scene"
but "cases such
as these, in my experience, often shift a little, even a lot, as they progress. Albeit not
the strongest, there is a realistic prospect of a conviction, though it could easily
improve, and just as easily diminish, during a trial."

Michael Stone c1996 aged
36 yrs.

Josie Russell's father Shaun (6' tall")
The murderer was "tall, like
my father."

Levi Bellfield's former partner Johanna
Collings stated that he would frequently assault her by tying a belt around her neck
(a propensity to bind his victims). Significantly, he also drove her beige E reg 1987 Ford Sapphire car in the summer of
1996 which was later reported stolen and burn out. Bellfield could assume an aura of
cunning 'charm'. The perpetrator said to the Russell family "I'm just going to
tie you up, but you can free yourself later".

The use of a vehicle
to stalk victims before attacking them with a hammer is a unique hallmark of Bellfield's
modus operandi; and his predeliction for accosting school girls in uniforms is well
established. In a separate case on 15th October 2001 - five years after this crime - 17
year old Anna-Marie Rennie gave a description of her attacker: He was about
"6' 3" tall, 25 yrs old,
with short blond hair and a round fat face." The man fitting this description turned out to be Levi Bellfield, who admitted to being at the scene of the attack although he
blamed his friend for the assault.

The question for the police
to investigate is whether Bellfield was in the Chillenden area close to Canterbury in Kent
on 9th July 1996. If he was not responsible for the
Chillenden Murders then it means another 6' tall man with 'podgy'
cheeks, "yellow hair" and a 'short, straight fringe' was also driving around with a hammer looking for schoolgirls to
murder.

The solution of this
crime will require a thorough forensic investigation rather than a reliance on a patently
bogus confession. Kent police may not be looking for anyone else and indeed
they stopped searching the moment they arrested Stone 14 years ago, but there is as much
chance of Michael Stone being the murderer as the judge who sentenced him.Levi Bellfield interviewed in
regard to the murder of Milly Dowler.

A report by The
Honourable Fred Kaufman, C.M., Q.C. in regard to Jail Confessions which resulted in the
wrongful murder conviction
of Guy Paul Morin. (see chapter 3). This report clarifies the obvious
dangers of relying on jail confessions.

NOTES:

(i) March 1999 - The
Guardian (15/3) - Mrs Batt refuses to speak to her daughter. "I disowned her
because of her lying. If Mick done it, he wants cutting up in little pieces and put down a
sewer. All right, he's a psycho but he didn't kill them. They had no forensics and people
lied in the witness box for money. Me and my husband are the only two out of the whole lot
who haven't sold our souls."

(ii) Feb 2009 - A Scotland
Yard task force is investigating Bellfield in relation to as many as 20 unsolved crimes,
including murders, rapes, and a number of hammer assaults. These include the murder of
Bellfield's school friend Patsy Morris, 14, who was strangled in Hounslow in 1980, as well
as hammer attacks on women in south-west London in 1994 and 1996.
There are also attacks in Blackpool, where Bellfield went on holiday, and in Sussex, where
he worked.

(iii) March 2010 - the CCRC have
requested to examine the 99cm bootlace found at the scene of the crime which was dropped
by the murderer while making his getaway. Such long laces (99 cm to 200 cm) are sold with hunting boots. Levi Bellfield used to go hunting.

(iv) October 2010 - The CCRC have
confirmed that the bootlace has been 'lost'. The Forensic Science Service state that they
would have returned the whole lace to Kent Police in 1998, but when it was retrieved for
further examination in 2010, only small fragments of previously examined lace remained,
while the 80 cm long section of lace had been mislaid.

(v) May 2011 Levi Bellfield has been
tried for the attempted kidnapping of Rachel Cowles on 20th March 2002 and the murder of
Milly Dowler on 21st March 2002 - as in the Chillenden Murders case, both girls were
approached while they were walking home from school wearing school uniforms. CPS
Announce Milly Dowler Charges

(vi) 23rd June 2011 - Levi Bellfield
is found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler.

(vii) 5th March 2012 - Kent police
have provided authority to Mr Stone's defence team to examine the forensic case files held
by the Forensic Science Service.

(viii) 20th July 2012 - Kent police
have reversed their decision to provide authority to access the DNA test results stored in
the archives of the Forensic Science Service.

The issue for the police and the CPS
to address is that the primary exhibit in the case was a 1m long black bootlace
which was dropped at the scene of the crime by the perpetrator. The lace was used to
strangle Megan Russell. Multiple male DNA readings of D19 -12,14 were
detected at various points along the lace, but that reading is not within Stone's profile.
The CPS and the police suggested that the DNA must have come from one of Stone's fellow
drug addicts while it was being used as a tourniquet; and that was why Stone's DNA was not
on the lace, which was used to strangle Megan Russell.

The same reading D19-12,14
was however detected at both ends of the girls' swimming towel, which was torn
into six strips by the perpetrator. Male DNA of THO1- 6 was also detected
on both ends of these strips. The last person to handle the black lace and the ends of the
towelling strips was the perpetrator. These readings of D19 - 12,14 and THO1-
6 must therefore belong to the perpetrator's profile. They are not within Michael
Stone's profile and therefore he could not have been the person who brought the lace to
the crime scene and then dropped it while making his escape. He could also not have been
the person who tore their swimming towel into strips, if the male DNA found on the ends of
those strips belonged to the perpetrator. It is not feasible to ignore the significance
of these DNA readings, which point towards an unknown assailant.

An examination of test results
obtained from other items handled by the perpetrator would enable further DNA readings in
the perpetrator's profile to be determined. If the foregoing readings of D19-12,14
and THO1- 6 are within Mr Bellfield's profile then Kent police and the
CPS have a clear duty to allow unfettered access to the DNA test reports for further
appraisal.

(ix) 14th April 2013 - A Judicial
Review oral hearing is to take place in the High Court on 11th June 2013, which challenges
the decision of Kent Police's refusal to allow access to the forensic case files.

(x) 30th September 2013 - The JR
application was refused as being "totally without merit" PDF

(xi) 8th October 2013 - Mr Stone's
legal team intend to present a fresh application to the CCRC on the basis of the DNA
findings discovered on the towelling strips in 2010 using the low copy number DNA testing
method.

Milly
Dowler

Josie and Megan
Russell

Rachel
Cowles

The assistance of Alexander Baron in
providing information on this case is gratefully acknowledged.
Forensic investigations are being funded by The Sherlock Holmes Museum. [Link]Counter reset to 0 on 26th Feb 2009
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